The present invention relates to the general technical field of means for sanitation, removal, and transformation of human fecal matter and urine.
More particularly, the invention relates to dry toilets implementing composting with worms.
Apart from solutions relying on electrical combustion or chemical degradation, various types of composting toilet are known in the state of the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,515 discloses a device comprising a toilet seat placed over a gravity outlet opening leading to means for collecting both liquid effluent and solid waste such as fecal matter and toilet paper. The collecting means is constituted by an endless belt arranged to confine a fraction of the liquid effluent. The belt is adapted to separate the solid waste from excess liquid effluent which is recovered in an appropriate treatment station. The endless belt is caused to move so as to transfer the solid waste to a treatment station that feeds a treatment substance for mixing in with the solid waste in a storage vessel maintained at a given temperature.
The proposed treatment of the fecal matter requires an auxiliary treatment substance to be supplied and it leads to a final product presenting volume and weight that are large relative to the solid waste to be treated.
Another composting technique, which is used in particular for treating sewage, consists in using worms of a suitable variety as an agent for airing the mass that is to be transformed into compost. Microorganisms in the digestive tubes of the worms act to accelerate the transformation of the sewage into compost.
Various problems arise in adapting that technique to composting toilets. Firstly, it is found that worms are sensitive to certain substances contained in urea, and in particular to the ammonia that results from transforming urea. Furthermore, worms can survive only in a medium that is damp.
The objects of the invention is thus to remedy those problems by proposing a toilet installation adapted to using worms for transforming fecal matter.
To achieve the above objects, the toilet installation of the invention comprises:
a toilet seat placed over a gravity outlet opening;
receiver means for receiving liquid effluent, fecal matter, and other waste, the receiver means being placed beneath the outlet opening and serving to separate the liquid effluent from the fecal matter and other waste;
recovery means for recovering the liquid effluent; and
displacement means for displacing the fecal matter and other waste away from the reception zone situated beneath the outlet opening towards a storage zone and actuated by control means.
According to the invention, the toilet installation further comprises, in the storage zone:
a composting medium constituted in particular by fecal matter and other waste brought in by the displacement means, and containing worms of a variety suitable for transforming the fecal matter and other waste into compost; and
dampening means for ensuring that the composting medium remains damp, other than by means of urine.